Fencer wins New England championship title

Amelia Maxfield Sports Editor

The men’s and women’s fencing teams had their debut in the New England Fencing Championships on Feb. 17 at Dartmouth College, marking the team’s official induction into the New England Intercollegiate Fencing Conference. Although the Brewers are newcomers this year, they have made the most of their first season in the 20-team league.

A commanding performance by Vassar at the New England Conference’s season opening meet, fittingly entitled “The Big One,” included victories by the men’s sabre squad and a second-place finish by épéeist Sophie Courser ’11. Combined with that early season display, the team’s showing at Dartmouth established the Brewers’ reputation in their new conference.

At the Conference Championship, the three-weapon men’s team finished fifth out of 12 teams overall, while the foil squad took eighth, and both the épée and sabre teams finished fifth, in what men’s and women’s Head Coach Bruce Gillman described as a “good day.”

Individually, épéeist and team captain Paul Brehm ’08 qualified first in the initial round of duels with an 11-1 record. He went on to an 11th-place finish overall. Cody Canning ’11 qualified second in the first round and finished 12th place in sabre overall. While no Vassar men qualified for individual finals, five of Canning and Brehm’s teammates came frustratingly close, losing by points in earlier rounds.

The women’s team had a slightly better day than the men’s, finishing fourth, just points behind third-place Brandeis University. The épée squad placed second out of 14 teams, and the sabre team finished third in their field.

Courser, who has been a consistent top performer for the team this season, became the 2008 New England Women’s Intercollegiate Fencing Association épée Champion on Sunday in a barrage (or tie-breaking) match. Co-captain Emily Frederickson ’08 also had a good showing, taking fifth place in the sabre competition.

“Some people had very good days,” said Gillman. “If we’d gotten a few more touches, or one more bout, it would’ve been better. We were just short, but overall it was good.”

Women’s co-captain Kristina Poznan ’08 described the year as a “season of growth.” Because no other Liberty League conference schools have National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) fencing teams, Gillman was forced to move the Vassar squad in to the larger and more diverse New England Conference.

“It’s nice to have a conference where we can fence and compete well,” said Gillman. “A bunch of Division III schools have a couple fencers that are as good individually as those at Division I schools, but in terms of numbers in each weapon class, it’s very hard, if not impossible, to match the depth [of a Division I school],” he said.

Despite the conference move, this season has been one of the best in Vassar history. Brehm described the men’s schedule as “the most competitive ever,” which makes the men’s 16-8 duel record (the best since 1997) even more impressive.

“We’ve had some historic wins this season,” said Gillman. “We beat Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University and the University of North Carolina for this first time since anyone can remember.”

“The overall skill level of the team has improved tremendously since my freshman year,” said Poznan. “With more people who are dedicated to the sport, the team has also become a lot more cohesive and supportive of each other’s competitive success.”

As a result of the program’s growth, the women’s team is 16-13, improving their 15-15 record of the 2006-2007 season.

The fencing teams will compete at the Ivy Fencing Association (IFA) Championships on Feb. 24 at Columbia University, but the biggest test of the season will come on March 2 when the Brewers host the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships at Walker Field House. At this national qualifying meet, the Brewers will face their toughest competition of the season, while attempting to individually qualify for the National Championship Tournament on March 13. Though this culminating event will be a significant test for the team, Gillman knows his fencers are ready.

“It is definitely the championship run. We’re going into IFA, which is a stronger tournament, hoping to do better than last year, and then finally regionals at Vassar where they’re going to do their best to qualify for NCAAs,” said Gillman. “They’ve been practicing for this for months.”